Thursday, June 30, 2016

I finished reading a very fine sports-related book earlier
this week, and I highly recommend it to those of you in the reading audience -
A.J. Liebling’s 1956 book, “The Sweet Science.”

To be perfectly honest, I’d never heard of this boxing book
before 2002 when Sports Illustrated named it the No. 1 sports book of all time,
ahead of such greats “Friday Night Lights,” “The Natural,” “The Boys of Summer”
and “Ball Four.” I’d read all of those books, and thought they were all pretty
good, so I figured that “The Sweet Science” had to be extra good to beat out
all of those outstanding books.

“Pound-for-pound
the top boxing writer of all time, Liebling is at his bare-knuckled best here,
bobbing and weaving between superb reporting and evocative prose. The fistic
figures depicted in this timeless collection of New Yorker essays range from
champs such as Rocky Marciano and Sugar Ray Robinson to endearing palookas and
eccentric cornermen on the fringes of the squared circle. Liebling's writing is
efficient yet stylish, acerbic yet soft and sympathetic. ("The sweet
science, like an old rap or the memory of love, follows its victims everywhere.")
He leavens these flourishes with an eye for detail worthy of Henry James. The
one-two combination allows him to convey how boxing can at once be so repugnant
and so alluring.”

I really enjoyed this book and now understand why it was
ranked so highly by Sports Illustrated. This book was hilarious in more than a
few spots, and was very educational for someone like me who has a novice’s
level of knowledge of boxing.

Ever since hearing about this book, my biggest question was
about the title. I assumed that “The Sweet Science” was a reference to boxing.
As it turns out, Liebling quotes 19th century sports journalist Pierce Egan
throughout his book, including more than a few references to Egan’s famous
boxing history book, “Boxiana.” One of these quotes refers to boxing as “The
Sweet Science of Bruising!”

I later learned that the term, “The Sweet Science,” was a
reference to the European tradition in which “gentlemen” were schooled in the
“sciences” of sword fighting, shooting and fist fighting. Fisticuffs, aka
boxing, being the least lethal of these “sciences” was called “The Sweet
Science.”

If you read and like “The Sweet Science,” you might want to
read some of the other books on SI’s Top 100 Sports Books List. In addition to
those mentioned above, the list also includes such fine books as “A Season on
the Brink” by John Feinstein, “Paper Lion” by George Plimpton, “A River Runs
Through It” by Norman Maclean, “Seabiscuit” by Laura Hillenbrand, “Into Thin
Air” by Jon Krakauer, “Eight Men Out” by Eliot Asinof and “The Science of
Hitting” by Ted Williams and John Underwood.

In the end, I highly recommend that you check out “The Sweet
Science,” even if you just have a passing interest in the sport of boxing. If
you’re like me, you’ll likely never look at boxing the same way after having
reading Liebling’s famous book on the subject.

June 30, 1520 – Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés
fought their way out of Tenochtitlan.

June 30, 1685 – Poet and dramatist John Gay was born in
Barnstaple, England.

June 30, 1775 - The Continental Congress drafted its
rationale for taking up arms against Great Britain in the Articles of War. In
the Articles of War, written one year before the adoption of the Declaration of
Independence, Congress referred to “his Majesty’s most faithful subjects in
these Colonies” and laid the blame for colonial discontent not on King George
III, but on “attempts of the British Ministry, to carry into execution, by
force of arms, several unconstitutional and oppressive acts of the British
parliaments for laying taxes in America.” By phrasing their discontent this
way, Congress attempted to notify the king that American colonists were unhappy
with parliamentary policy.

June 30, 1805 – The U.S. Congress organized the Michigan
Territory.

June 30, 1817 – English botanist and explorer Joseph Dalton
Hooker was born in Halesworth, Suffolk, England. Hooker was one of the greatest
British botanists and explorers of the 19th century. Hooker was a founder of
geographical botany, and Charles Darwin's closest friend.

June 30, 1841 – Confederate soldier John Miller Lee was born
at Burnt Corn. He enlisted in Wood’s Cavalry in Mobile on Sept. 29, 1861 then
transferred to Co. B of the 3rd Alabama Cavarly (The Monroe Blues). He was
elected 2nd lieutenant and assigned to Manigault’s Brigade S.O. No. 78 and
detailed as division escort in Anderson's Division. He was wounded near Atlanta
on Aug. 16, 1864. When the 1907 Alabama Confederate Census was conducted, he
was living in the Diadem community in Conecuh County. When he filed for his
Confederate pension, his witnesses were F.M. Dean and F.H. Lee. When the 1921
Confederate Census was conducted, he was living at Rt. B, Box 108, in
Evergreen.

June 30, 1859 – French acrobat Charles Blondin became the
first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope.

June 30, 1860 - A
debate on the merits of the theory of evolution took place at Oxford University.
It occurred as part of the annual meeting of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science. Darwin's book “On
the Origin of Species”(1859) had just been published seven
months earlier, and was hotly contested by scientists and theologians on both
sides of the issue.

June 30, 1861 - Below New Orleans, the CSS Sumter, commanded by Raphael
Semmes, ran the blockade and began a career as a Federal commerce raider.

June 30, 1862 – The Seven Days’ Battles continued at
Glendale (White Oak Swamp), Va. as Robert E. Lee had a chance to deal a
decisive blow against George B. McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. Lee’s Army of
Northern Virginia had already won the Seven Days’ Battles, but the
Confederates’ attempt to rout McClellan cost many Southern casualties. Lee’s
failure at Glendale permitted McClellan’s army to fall back to higher, more
defensible locations.

June 30, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Adam’s
Bluff, Arkansas; at Henderson, Kentucky; at Powell River and another at Rising
(or Morning) Sun, Tennessee; and at Jones’ Bridge, New Kent Courthouse, Turkey
Bridge (or Malvern Cliff,) and at White Oak Swamp Bridge in Virginia.

June 30, 1863 – During the Civil War, fighting took place at Goodrich’s
Landing, Louisiana. Skirmishes were also fought near Westminster, Maryland;
near Hudson’s River and Neosho River, Missouri; and at Fairfield, Hanover, and
at Sporting Hill, Pennsylvania.

June 30, 1863 – During the Civil War, the siege at Vicksburg, Miss. entered
Day 44.

June 30, 1863 – During the Civil War, Confederates evacuated Tullahoma,
Tennessee, and began to withdraw down to and then across the Tennessee River.

June 30, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Acworth,
Allatoona and La Fayette, Georgia; and on Four Mile Creek, near Deep Bottom,
Virginia.

June 30, 1864 – During the Civil War, Confederate General Jubal Early’s
force occupied New Market, Virginia as it made its way northward.

June 30, 1864 – During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln accepted
Salmon P. Chase’s, the US Secretary of the Treasury’s, resignation.

June 30, 1864
– U.S. President Abraham Lincoln granted the Yosemite Valley to California for
"public use, resort and recreation".

June 30, 1865 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought with Indians at
Rock Creek in the Dakota Territory.

June 30, 1865 - The US Military Commission found the following guilty of conspiring
to murder President Lincoln with these sentences doled out: Samuel Arnold, life
imprisonment; George Atzerodt, death by hanging; David Herald, death by
hanging; Dr. Samuel Mudd, life imprisonment; Michael O’Laughlin, life
imprisonment; Lewis Payne, death by hanging; Edward Spangler, six years
imprisonment; and Mrs. Mary Surratt, death by hanging.

June 30, 1865 - President Johnson named Benjamin F. Perry provisional
governor of South Carolina

June 30, 1881 – Lobina Knight Mitchell was mistakenly murdered
in Cragford, Ala. by Charles J. Waldrop, who was hanged for the crime on July
3, 1881.

June 30, 1882 – Charles J. Guiteau was hanged in Washington,
D.C. for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.

June 30, 1892
– German SS officer Oswald Pohl was born in Duisburg-Ruhrort.

June 30-July 2, 1896 – The Confederate reunion was scheduled
to be held in Richmond, Va. It was expected to “be one of the memorable
occurrences of an eventful year.” It was said that every one of the 833 camps
of United Confederate Veterans would be represented; that many thousands of old
soldiers of the Confederacy who were not members of this organization and a
host of the sons of veterans would also attend. It was believed that this would
be a larger gathering of the “followers of the lost cause” than had assembled
on any occasion since the war.

June 30, 1906 – Prof. L.K. Benson, a graduate of Southern
University, was named principal of the Monroeville Institute in Monroeville,
Ala. He replaced I.A. Weaver, who took the job as editor of the Lineville
Headlight.

June 30, 1908 – The famous Tunguska event explosion occurred
in Siberia near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk
Krai, Russia. This meteor (or comet) explosion flattened nearly 770 square
miles of trees and struck people unconscious some 40 miles away. Commonly
thought to be caused by the air burst of a comet or meteor over the area, the
impact was a 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and
it knocked over an estimated 80 million trees.

June 30, 1910 – Evergreen Postmaster Dean reported that
receipts of the Evergreen Post Office for the fiscal year ending on June 30,
amounted to $6,961.85 as compared with $5,969.25 for the previous year, showing
a net increase in receipts for the year of $995.65.

June 30, 1911 - Polish poet Czeslaw Milosz was born in
Szetejnie, Lithuania.

June 30, 1915 – The Evergreen Courant reported that J.G.
Barrow was now in charge of Hotel Evergreen in Evergreen, Ala.

June 30, 1915 – The Conecuh County Grand Jury was scheduled
to meet in Evergreen, Ala. in regard to the trial of John Salter and Robert
Watkins who made a full confession to the brutal murder of Martha Lassiter, the
attempted murder of Wiley House and the robbery and burning of House’s
residence near Burnt Corn on June 23, 1915.

June 30, 1921 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding appointed
former President William Howard Taft Chief Justice of the United States.

June 30, 1928 - As mandated by the
state legislature, convict leasing ended in Alabama. While many
southern states leased convicts to private industry as laborers, Alabama's
program, begun in 1846, lasted the longest, and for much of that time the
notorious system was a key revenue source for the state.

June 30, 1934 – The Night of the
Long Knives, Adolf Hitler's violent purge of his political rivals in Germany,
took place.

June 30, 1936 - Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind, one
of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for a blockbuster 1939
movie, was published on this day.

June 30, 1941 - A radio version of Alabama author Octavus
Roy Cohen's book “I Love You Again”was broadcast as part of “The Lux Radio
Theatre” series.

June 30, 1946 – The Louisville & Nashville Railroad
announced a number of train schedule changes for its depot in Evergreen, Ala. that
took effect one minute after midnight on this date. Train No. 5 for Mobile and
New Orleans was changed to No. 7 and began leaving at 6:15 a.m. instead of 5:40
a.m. Train No. 4 for Montgomery, Atlanta, Washington, Birmingham, Louisville,
Cincinnati, St. Louis and Chicago began leaving at 4:10 p.m. instead of 4:20
p.m. Train No. 38 for Jacksonville, Montgomery, Atlanta, Washington and New
York began leaving at 5:22 a.m. instead of 5:03 a.m. Train No. 6 for Montgomery
began leaving at 1:59 p.m. instead of 1:50 p.m.

June 30, 1948 – The Evergreen Greenies were scheduled to
play Brewton in Brewton on this Wednesday night.

June 30, 1956 – A TWA Super Constellation and a United
Airlines DC-7 collided above the Grand Canyon in Arizona and crashed, killing
all 128 on board both airliners.

June 30, 1958 - The U.S. Congress passed a law authorizing
the admission of Alaska as the 49th state in the Union.

June 30, 1959 – At the close of business on this day, Clyde
Dickey Bozeman took over the operations of The Thomasville Times in
Thomasville, Ala. after buying it from Times editor and publisher Earl L.
Tucker.

June 30, 1960 – This day’s edition of The Monroe Journal
contained the following advertisement: COMPLETE SELL OUT! “To Kill A Mocking
Bird” by Harper Lee of Monroeville, Ala. Published by J.B. Lippincott Co. “The
Book With A Southern Setting… A Love Story Pure And Simple” Chosen As… A
Literary Guild Selection… Reader’s Digest Condensation… More Book Are On Order,
Place Your Order Now! At Ernestine’s Book & Gift Shop, Monroeville.

June 30, 1967 – Morris T. Ward resigned as principal at
Evergreen High School, where he had served as principal for six years, to
accept a position as assistant to Wilcox County Superintendent of Education Guy
S. Kelly. Ward, who had been a successful coach at Lyeffion and Thomaston, had
been Evergreen’s principal since July 1, 1961. Harvey G. Pate was Conecuh
County’s Superintendent of Education at the time of Ward’s resignation.

June 30, 1969 – In an incident often attributed to the Bermuda
Triangle, the 60-foot Maple Bank was found drifting north of Bermuda with no
trace of survivors.

June 30, 1962 - Sandy Koufax struck out 13 batters and
walked five to lead the Brooklyn Dodgers to victory over the New York Mets,
5-0, with his first career no-hitter.

June 30, 1966 – The National Organization of Women was
founded in Washington, D.C. by a group of 28 women.

June 30, 1967 - The South Vietnamese Armed Forces Council resolved rival
claims to the presidency in favor of Nguyen Van Thieu, Chief of State. Former
Premier Nguyen Cao Ky, who had announced on May 11 that he would run for
president, was forced to accept second place on the presidential ticket.

June 30, 1970 - The Cincinnati Reds moved to their new home
at Riverfront Stadium.

June 30, 1970 - The U.S. Senate voted 58 to 37 in favor of adopting the
Cooper-Church amendment to limit presidential power in Cambodia. The amendment
barred funds to retain U.S. troops in Cambodia after July 1 or to supply
military advisers, mercenaries, or to conduct “any combat activity in the air
above Cambodia in direct support of Cambodian forces” without congressional
approval. The amendment represented the first limitation ever passed in the
Senate concerning the president’s powers as commander-in-chief during a war
situation. The House of Representatives rejected the amendment on July 9, and
it was eventually dropped from the Foreign Military Sales Act.

June 30, 1971 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the
government could not prevent the Washington Post or the New York Times from
publishing the “Pentagon Papers.”

June 30, 1989 – Eleven people were injured, but no one was
killed, when a van belonging to the Springhill Church of God in Mobile, Ala. suffered
a blow out, struck a guard rail and turned over just north of the Conecuh
County, Ala. line on Interstate Highway 65.

June 30, 1995 – Moore Academy School at Pine Apple in Wilcox
County, Ala. was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

June 30, 1995 – The Givens House in Andalusia, Ala. was
added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.

June 30, 1999 – Weather reporter Harry Ellis reported total
rainfall for the month of June 1999 amounted to 10.13 inches in Evergreen, Ala.

Notes: Today in the 182nd day of 2016 and the 11th day of Summer. There are 184 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily,
just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line and south of U.S. Highway
84, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834N Lon
87.30131W. Elevation 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No.
AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

As best that I can remember, the first I ever heard of the comic
book character, the Swamp Thing, was when I was in elementary school, maybe
around the fourth or fifth grade. Back then the small supermarket in my
hometown sold comic books off the magazine rack, and they could usually be
found on the bottom shelf. One day, while perusing the selection, I ran across
an issue of “The Swamp Thing,” and I’ve been intrigued by the character ever
since.

Fast forward to around two years ago when Amazon.com
released a “best of” list called Amazon’s 25 Essential DC Graphic Novels and
ranked “Saga of the Swamp Thing: Book 1” by Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John
Totleben and others at No. 23 on that prestigious list. This rekindled my
interest in the series, and I added this outstanding graphic novel to my “bucket
list” a short time later. Over the weekend, I took the time to read it from
start to finish and took more than a little pleasure in scratching this off my
list of bucket list-worthy books to read.

“Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book 1” is actually the first of
six volumes that collect the entire run of Alan Moore’s work on the comic. In
Book 1, you’ll find issues 20-27 of the “Swamp Thing,” and to say that it’s
very entertaining reading would be an understatement. If you’ve enjoyed Moore’s
work on comics and graphic novels like “From Hell,” “The League of
Extraordinary Gentleman” and “V for Vendetta,” you’ll love his run on the “Swamp
Thing.”

Now that I’ve read “Book 1,” I’m left wanting to read the
other five volumes of Moore’s work on the “Swamp Thing,” which went through
issue No. 64. The other books (and the issues they contain) include “Book 2:
Love and Death” (28-34 & Annual), “Book 3: The Curse” (35-42), “Book 4: A
Murder of Crows” (43-50), “Book 5: Earth to Earth” (51-56) and “Book 6: Reunion”
(57-64). If those books are as good as the first, then I’ve got a lot to look
forward to.

Reading “Book 1” also made me want to re-watch both of the
old “Swamp Thing” movies from the 1980s, “Swamp Thing” (1982) and “The Return
of Swamp Thing” (1989). I’m sure that I’ve seen both of these movies, but it’s
been so long ago that I barely remember watching them. The original “Swamp
Thing” movie does not appear to be currently available through NetFlix, but you
can get the DVD of “The Return of Swamp Thing” through NetFlix.

While researching this post, I was also reminded that there
was a “Swamp Thing” television series that ran for three seasons in the early
1990s on the USA Network. Interestingly, all 72 episodes of that TV series are
also available for rental through NetFlix. I don’t think I’ve ever watched any
of these, so I may ended adding them to my “bucket list” next year.

In the end, how many of you have read “Saga of the Swamp
Thing, Vol. 1”? What did you think about it? What other outstanding graphic
novels would you recommend? Let us know in the comments section below.

Evergreen weather reporter
W.D. Simonton reported a high of 91 on June 24 and a low of 68 on June 25. He
reported .80 inches of rain on June 20, .32 inches on June 21, .79 inches on
June 22, .55 inches on June 23, .21 inches on June 24 and .07 inches on June
26.

Mrs. Sarah Susan Wilson, age
103, died at her residence in the Mt. Union community on Thurs., June 20. She
was thought to be Conecuh County’s oldest citizen.

Rayburn H. Nall, seaman, U.S.
Navy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Belton H. Nall of Lenox, Ala., is serving aboard the
amphibious assault ship USS Valley Forge, which participated in operation “Wind
Sock” off the coast of California June 3-14.

“Everyone in Owassa will use
this zip code on all their correspondence to speed mail delivery and reduce the
chance of misspent mail.”

Zip Code, the Post Office
Department’s revolutionary new system of improved mail dispatch and delivery,
goes into effect nationally on July 1.

The Repton Baptist Church was
the scene of the wedding of Miss Betty Jean Dees and Willard Conrad Booker Jr.
June 16. Lovely in its simplicity, the impressive double ring ceremony was
performed by the Rev. Ralph Lee.

68 YEARS AGO

JUNE 24, 1948

Greening Lodge Masons Elect New Officers: At a regular
meeting in the Masonic Hall Tuesday night, June 22, Greening Lodge No. 53,
A.F.&A.M., elected officers for the coming year. The new officers are as
follows:

J.J. (Jack) Finklea Is New School Head: Announcement was
made this week by County Superintendent H.G. Pate that J.J. Finklea, a former
citizen of Evergreen, now of Cuthbert, Ga., had accepted the position of
principal of the Evergreen High School, succeeding J. Cliff Harper, who
resigned last week. Mr. Finklea, with his wife and two children, will move here
to assume his duties about July 15.

The city’s voters will go to the polls next Tues., June
29, to elect a mayor and five councilmen. Below are the names the voters will
see on the ballots next Tuesday:

Local Delegation Seeks Road
Completion: A delegation from here composed of Probate Judge L.W. Price, Mayor
J.L. Kelly, Representative J.E. Kelly and M.C. Brooks, chairman of the Board of
Revenue, spent Tuesday in Montgomery where they went to present a plea to Gov.
Miller and State Highway Director L.G. Smith for the completion of the paving
on Highway No. 31. There are approximately 60 miles of this highway between
Mobile and Montgomery that is as yet unpaved, consisting of a stretch from here
to McKenzie; between Brewton and Atmore; between Atmore and Stapleton and
Cochrane Bridge across Mobile Bay.

The delegation received no
definite assurance from either Gov. Miller or Mr. Smith, except that their
request would receive most careful consideration at the proper time.

Probate Judge L.W. Price has
received pension warrants for old Confederate veterans and widows for the
remaining half of the quarter due April 1, 1933, which are payable July 1, this
Saturday. The pensioners received half payment on this quarter sometime in
April and the warrants now issued is for the remainder.

Bobby Bozeman is spending the
week with Clarke Bozeman in Andalusia.

Miss Guice Stevens and her
father, Mr. L.M. Stevens, spent last week at the Whitley Hotel in Montgomery,
where they attended the Spanish-American war veterans reunion.

Many friends of Mrs. L.D.
King sympathize sincerely with her in the death of her father, Hon. W.S.
Watson, who passed away at his home in Greenville several days ago. He had for
several years past been clerk of the circuit court of Butler County and had
previously served one term as sheriff.

The local freight trains are
again making their night stop-over here (Castleberry).

NOTICE: The Democratic
Executive Committee of Conecuh County is hereby called to meet at Evergreen on
Sat., June 27, 1903 to consider the matter of the vacancy now existing in
office of Representative caused by the death of the late Dr. Andrew Jay. Every
member of the committee is earnestly requested to be present. – S.P. Dunn,
Chairman.

Rev. J.W. Stewart filled his appointment here
(Zeru) Sunday afternoon holding services at the water’s edge where the
ordinance of baptism was administered to Misses Johnston and Lucas. Rev.
Stewart was accompanied by his little son and Miss Mary McCreary.

June 29-June 30, 1692 – In connection with the Salem
witchcraft trials, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Wildes, Sarah Good and
Elizabeth Howe were tried, pronounced guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.

June 29, 1767 - The British Parliament approved the
Townshend Revenue Acts. The act placed import taxes on many of the British
products bought by Americans, including lead, paper, paint, glass and tea.

June 29, 1776 - The Virginia constitution was adopted and
Patrick Henry was made governor.

June 29, 1776 – The first privateer battle of the American
Revolutionary War was fought at Turtle Gut Inlet near Cape May, New Jersey.

June 29, 1776 - Edward Rutledge,
one of South Carolina’s representatives to the Continental Congress in
Philadelphia, expressed his reluctance to declare independence from Britain in
a letter to the like-minded John Jay of New York. Contrary to the majority of
his Congressional colleagues, Rutledge advocated patience with regards to
declaring independence. In a letter to Jay, one of New York’s representatives
who was similarly disinclined to rush a declaration, Rutledge worried whether
moderates like himself and Jay could “effectually oppose” a resolution for
independence.

June 29, 1804 - Privates John Collins and Hugh Hall of the
Lewis and Clark Expedition were found guilty by a court-martial consisting of
members of the Corps of Discovery for getting drunk on duty. Collins received
100 lashes on his back and Hall received 50.

June 29, 1815 – Bibb County, which was originally part of
Monroe County, was created by the Mississippi territorial legislature on this
day. Part of Montgomery County, Miss. Territory, in 1817; part of Montgomery
County, Alabama Territory, 1817-1818; Cahawba County, Alabama Territory, Feb.
7, 1818-Dec. 14, 1819; Cahawba County, Alabama, Dec. 14, 1819-Dec. 4, 1820;
then named changed to Bibb. Present boundaries established in 1868. Now
bordered on theh north by Tuscaloosa County and Jefferson County, on the east
by Shelby County and Chilton County, on the south by Perry County, and on the
west by Hale County. Named Cahawba for the river that flows from north to south
through the county. Renamed in 1820 to honor William Wyatt Bibb (1781-1820),
territorial governor and first governor of the state, who had died the
preceding summer. Its county seats have been the temporary one, Falls of the
Cahawba, 1819-22; Bibb Court House, later named Bibbville, 1822-29; and the
present one, first known as Centreville Courthouse, now Centreville, chosen in
1829.

June 29, 1825 – During his tour of the United States, the
Marquis de Lafayette met with women's groups and then departed Montpelier for Burlington,
Vermont, arriving there about 11 a.m. He laid the cornerstone for the "South
College" building at the University of Vermont and gave a talk to about
50-60 students. He was entertained at the Grassmount estate. He departed 12
hours after he arrived for Whitehall, New York.

June 29, 1835 - Determined to win independence for the
Mexican State of Texas, William Travis raised a volunteer army of 25 soldiers
and prepared to liberate the city of Anahuac. The next day, the small army
easily captured Captain Antonio Tenorio, the leader of Santa Anna’s forces in
Anahuac, and forced the troops to surrender.

June 29, 1846 - The 1st Alabama Infantry Regiment organized
in Mobile, Ala. to fight in the Mexican War. Alabamians volunteered in large
numbers to fight against Mexico when war came over the annexation of Texas, but
only this single regiment, a battalion, and several independent companies
actually were received into federal service from the state. During its 11
months of service, the 1st Alabama lost only one man in battle but 150 died
from disease.

June 29, 1861 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at Bowman’s
Place, on the Cheat River, in Western Virginia.

June 29, 1862 – The Battle of Savage’s Station took place in
Henrico County, Va. Confederate General Robert E. Lee attacked Union General
George McClellan as he was pulling his army away from Richmond, Va. in retreat
during the Seven Days’ Battles. Although the Yankees lost 1,000 men – twice as
many as the Rebels – they were able to successfully protect the retreat.

June 29, 1862 – During the Civil
War, the blockade runner, Ann, was captured by the Federal Navy under the guns
of Fort Morgan, Ala.

June 29, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought along the James
River in the vicinity of Willis’ Church and another at Jordan‘s Ford; along the
Williamsburg Road, Virginia; and at Moorefield in Western Virginia. An engagement
was also fought at Peach Orchard (or Allen‘s Farm) in the vicinity of Fair Oaks
Station. A two-day Federal reconnaissance began between Front Royal and Luray, in
the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

June 29, 1863 – National Baseball Hall of Fame catcher and
manager Wilbert Robinson was born in Bolton, Mass. During his career, he played
for the Philadelphia Athletics, the Baltimore Orioles and the St. Louis
Cardinals and he managed the Orioles and the Brooklyn Robins. He was inducted
into the Hall of Fame in 1945.

June 29, 1863 – During the Civil War, the following men were appointed Union
Brigadier Generals: George Armstrong Custer, Elon John Farnsworth and Wesley
Merritt.

June 29, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought near Columbia
and another at Creelsborough, Kentucky; out from Mound, Louisiana; at Muddy Branch
and Westminster, Maryland; and at Decherd, Haillsborough, Lexington and
Tullahoma in Tennessee. The first day of what would be two days of skirmishing began
in Mississippi at Messinger’s Ferry, along the Big Black River.

June 29, 1863 – During the Civil War, the siege at Vicksburg, Miss. entered
Day 43.

June 29, 1863 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought at McConnellsburg,
Pennsylvania as Northern and Southern armies continued to concentrate toward
Gettysburg and Cashtown. Federal cavalry probed the moving Southern army.

June 29, 1863 – During the Civil War, a six-day Confederate operation in the
vicinity of Beverly, West Virginia began.

June 29, 1864 – During the Civl
War, a skirmish was fought at Pond Springs in Northern Alabama.

June 29, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Meffleton
Lodge, Arkansas; at Davis Bend, Louisiana; at La Fayette, Tennessee; and at
Charlestown and Duffield’s Station, West Virginia.

June 29, 1865 – During the Civil War, a skirmish was fought with Indians
near Fort Dodge, Kansas.

June 29, 1892 - Sigmund Freud first
referred to the unconscious, calling it a "second state of consciousness."

June 29, 1897 - The Chicago Cubs scored 36 runs in a game
against Louisville, setting a record for runs scored by a team in a single
game.

June 29, 1900 – French aviator and writer Antoine de
Saint-Exupery was born in Lyons.

June 29, 1901 - The first edition of "Editor &
Publisher" was issued.

June 29, 1910 – Composer, librettist and lyricist Frank
Loesser was born in New York City.

June 29, 1911 – The baseball season was scheduled to open in
Evergreen, Ala. on this day with three games between Evergreen and Andalusia on
Thursday, Friday and Saturday. George Farnham was Evergreen’s manager.

June 29, 1914 – Jina Guseva attempted to assassinate Grigori
Rasputin at his home town in Siberia.

June 29, 1915 – Merchants and business owners of Evergreen,
Ala. signed an agreement on this Tuesday to close for business on Mon., July 5,
in observance of the Fourth of July holiday, which fell on a Sunday.

June 29, 1916 – The Conecuh Record reported that Knud
Nielsen had left that week for a visit to Chicago.

June 29, 1916 – The Conecuh Record reported that Mr. and
Mrs. T.W. Cargill of Montgomery, spent a day with Mr. and Mrs. E.E. Cargill
that week. Mr. Cargill was a popular L&N conductor and a native of
Evergreen.

June 29, 1916 – The Conecuh Record reported that “an
opportunity to have high class portrait painting from life or photograph by Woodford
J. Sanders, portrait painter, now paying Evergreen a visit first time in 20
years, lately from Montgomery, and having painted the portraits of Dr. John
Massey, M.B. Houghton, J. Flowers, Judge W.A. Thomas and others for the Women’s
College of Alabama. Sanders, while in our neighbor city of Brewton, placed some
50 or more portraits, among those of note, Dr. Downing, Mr. Shofner, for
Downing Industrial School, also the family of Mr. Ed Lovelace, Mr. W. Martin,
Mr. Luttrell, Mr. E. McGowin, Dr. Smith and others, giving entire satisfaction.
Mr. Sanders will be here for a short stay, and those desiring to remember their
loved ones as in life will do well to see him at once.”

June 29, 1933 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Probate
Judge L.W. Price had received pension warrants for old Confederate veterans and
widows for the remaining half of the quarter due April 1, 1933, which were
payable July 1, that coming Saturday. The pensioners received half payment on
this quarter sometime in April and the warrants issued in June was for the
remainder.

June 29, 1933 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Bobby
Bozeman was spending the week with Clarke Bozeman in Andalusia.

June 29, 1933 – The Evergreen Courant reported that Miss
Guice Stevens and her father, L.M. Stevens, had spent the previous week at the
Whitley Hotel in Montgomery, where they attended the Spanish-American war
veterans reunion.

June 29, 1936 – National Baseball Hall of Fame first
baseman, third baseman and left fielder Harmon Killebrew was born in Payette,
Idaho. During his career, he played for the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins
and the Kansas City Royals. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1984.

June 29, 1939 - The Monroe Journal reported that a new
newspaper, The Frisco City Sun, had begun publication in Frisco City and was
edited by Eugene C. Thomley.

June 29, 1941 – Joe DiMaggio broke George Sisler’s 1922
American League record of 41 consecutive games with a hit at Griffith Stadium
in Washington, and four days later, on July 2, DiMaggio broke "Wee"
Willie Keeler’s major league record streak of 44 games.

June 29, 1945 - The annual picnic for the employees of
Monroe and Clarke Mills was to be held on the grounds of Monroe Mills in
Monroeville, Ala. on this Friday.

June 29, 1948 – Evergreen’s voters were set to go to the
polls on this Tuesday to elect a mayor and five councilmen. Candidates for
mayor included M.M. Cardwell and J.H. Robison. Candidates for councilmen
included Ward C. Alexander, H.H. Beasley, A.G. Bolton, H.A. Deer, C.L.
Kamplain, R.G. Kendall, H.J. Kinzer, Zell Murphy, J.W. Shannon, D.T. Stuart and
O.B. Tuggle.

June 29, 1949 – Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle
Dan Dierdorf was born in Canton, Ohio. He went on to play for Michigan and the
St. Louis Cardinals. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996.

June 29, 1956 – The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was
signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, officially creating the United States
Interstate Highway System.

June 29, 1960 - Four candidates had qualified by noon on
this Wednesday in Monroeville to seek offices in the city election scheduled
for Mon., Aug. 1. Dr. W.H. Hines, local veterinarian, filed qualifications for
the post of mayor, which was held at that time by Leonard Morris. Two
incumbents had also qualified for reelection to city council posts – Julian R.
Cole to Place 2 and Curtis A. Dunning to Place 3. Windell Owens, local
attorney, had qualified as a candidate for Place 5 on the council, which was
held at that time by his brother, E.G. Owens.

June 29, 1964 - Twenty-four New Zealand Army engineers arrived in Saigon as
a token of that country’s support for the American effort in South Vietnam.

June 29, 1965 – Army Capt. Rubin Fletcher Bradley of
Jackson, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam.

June 29, 1966 - During the Vietnam War, U.S. aircraft bombed the major North
Vietnamese population centers of Hanoi and Haiphong for the first time,
destroying oil depots located near the two cities.

June 29, 1970 – Thomas Charles Littles, who was fatally wounded
in Vietnam, was honorably discharged from the Army and placed on the Army’s
Permanent Disability Retired List. He received care at the Montgomery hospital
for 415 days and died from pneumonia on June 3, 1971.

June 29, 1970 - U.S. ground combat troops ended two months of operations in
Cambodia and returned to South Vietnam.

June 29, 1975 - The 50th anniversary of the
founding of Uriah First Baptist Church was to be celebrated on this Sunday.
With land donated by James Uriah Blacksher, the church building was constructed
in 1925 by Shelton Seales, assisted by Tom Gulsby and E.R. Hayles. Early
members of the church included the families of the late W.W. Hollinger, Mrs.
T.A. Black and Mrs. G.R. Vaught.

June 29, 1989 – A Conecuh County, Ala. Circuit Court jury
found former Olympic boxer Clint Jackson of Evergreen guilty on charges of first-degree
kidnapping in connection with the August 1988 kidnapping of Evergreen banker
Tom Salo. Dale R. Smith was found guilty of second-degree kidnapping in the
same trial, which was one of the longest in county history.

June 29, 2007 – Marlon Anderson of Montgomery, Ala. was
designated for assignment by the Dodgers on June 29, 2007, ending his tenure
with the club. He cleared waivers and became a free agent on July 11. He was
promptly signed to a minor league contract by the Mets on July 12.

June 29, 2008 – Birmingham, Ala. native David
Robertson made his Major League debut, taking the field for the first time for
the New York Yankees

June 29, 2014 – Through the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), a
witness in Atmore reported seeing a UFO around 9:30 p.m. The witness had just
parked his car at his house, and when he got out, he saw a strange light about
500 feet or so above a tree near a school building. The witness described the
strange light as an “orange, moving ball.” The light moved about one mile in 45
seconds and eventually disappeared, the witness said.

June 29, 2014
– The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant self-declared its caliphate in Syria
and northern Iraq.

Notes: Today in the 181st day of 2016 and the tenth day of Summer. There are 185 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily,
just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line and south of U.S. Highway
84, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834N Lon
87.30131W. Elevation 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No.
AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Sr. League Results: The
Tigers downed the Indians, 9-5, Monday night to strengthen their grip on first
place. The winners now boast a 5-0 slate.

A triple by Jerry Johnson was
the big hit of the Tigers’ seven-run first inning.

Singles by Clint Ward, Jimmy
Warren and Paul Deason helped put three tallies across the plate for the losers
in the third.

Wayne Pate was the winner on
the hill although he was relieved in the fourth by Bubba Faulkner. Bill Snowden
and Knud Nielsen were the Indian moundsmen with Snowden taking the loss.

Braves vs. Pirates: The
Braves whipped the Pirates, 5-2, Monday night to take over second place in the
Senior League pennant race. The Braves record is now 3-2 while the Bucs have a
2-3 mark.

The Braves scored three runs
in the first frame on only one hit, a single by Terry Coleman.

Three errors in the Brave
infield gave the losers two runs in the fourth.

Grover Jackson took the hill
win, with Johnny Brown pitching the last inning for the victors. Chastain was
the loser although Steve Baggett took over after two outs in the first inning.

Brave shortstop Terry Coleman
was injured when struck in the eye by a throw in the fourth inning. He was
taken to the Conecuh County Hospital for examination.

The Tigers vs. Pirates: The
Tigers stretched their winning string to four Thursday night with a 4-1 win
over the Pirates. Bubba Faulkner was the winning hurler while Steve Baggett was
tagged with the loss.

68 YEARS AGO

JUNE 24, 1948

Cliff Harper Resigns EHS Post To Become AHSAA’s First
Full Time Secretary: J. Cliff Harper resigned his post as principal of
Evergreen High School last week to accept the position of full time secretary
of the Alabama High School Athletic Association. Mr. Harper will assume his new
duties on July 1 when he relieves Sellers Strough who has served in a part time
capacity as secretary for 25 years.

This is a big step forward for the Alabama High School
Athletic Association. This full time post has long been needed to bring the
state’s high school sports organization up to par with other states such as
Texas, Georgia and New York.

Mr. Harper and his staff of workers will have offices in
Montgomery. Mr. Strough will work with Harper for the first month acquainting him
with his new duties.

Mr. and Mrs. Harper and Mr. and Mrs. Strough of
Birmingham are attending the national meeting of the Executive Secretaries of
the State Athletic Associations in Piquot Lake, Min. They will be there for a
week during which time rules, regulations, etc. for the next year will be
discussed and voted on.

Mr. Harper has served as principal at Evergreen High
School for the past two years. He is a native of Pineapple, Ala. and earned his
A.B. at Birmingham Southern where he played end on the football team. After
having coached two years at Sardis High School, Harper earned his M.S. at
Auburn in 1939. He then served as principal and coach at Spring Garden High for
four years and at Georgiana for one year before entering the Army.

Mr. Harper entered the Army as a private and was
separated from the service as a captain. While in the Army, he served as a
director of athletics and physical training.

Harper’s record at Evergreen High School has been
outstanding. A firm believer in a strong athletic and physical training
program, he organized an excellent intra-mural program at Evergreen High. He
also set up and directed a summer recreation program for the City of Evergreen.

No one in the state has worked harder as an individual to
strengthen the state athletic association than Cliff Harper. He long ago saw
the need for a full time secretary and has urged the addition of this office.
It is fitting that one of his qualifications and experience should become the
first to fill the office.

Brewton Pro Baseball Club Will Hold Evergreen Night:
Officials of the Brewton Millers entry in the professional Class D Alabama
State League, announced this week that they would hold an “Evergreen Night” on
Wed., July 7. Plans have been completed to reserve around half of the seats for
Evergreen fans.

Businessmen in Brewton and Evergreen have purchased
several hundred tickets to the game and will distribute them in Evergreen. Half
the grandstand and half the bleachers will be roped off for Evergreen fans and
a large attendance is expected to represent the city.

The Millers will play the Greenville Pirates in the game
that will feature the events of “Evergreen Night.” Game time will be 7:30.

Greenies Play Brewton Here Sunday At Three: The Evergreen
Greenies will play Brewton here Sunday in a Tri-County Baseball League game.
This is a change in schedule. Evergreen originally would have played in Brewton
Sunday and a home game here next Thursday. To avoid conflict with the
professional Millers, the games were changed. Evergreen will play Brewton in
Brewton next Wednesday night.

The Greenies play Booneville at McCullough today. Their
game here Sunday was rained out.

The game here Sunday will be a crucial one. Brewton is
the only team in the loop that has defeated Evergreen this season. Game time is
three o’clock, place, Brooks Stadium Sunday afternoon.

83 YEARS AGO

JUNE 29, 1933

Evergreen Increases Lead In
Pennant Race: With Doc Jones registering his second shutout in a row, the
Evergreen baseball club took Greenville into camp on the Butler countians’ home
lot Sunday afternoon, 2-0, to give them a four-game lead over the second-place
Crenshaw County team from Luverne. The locals had defeated Ft. Deposit Thursday
in both ends of a double bill, the second game of which Jones pitched for his
initial scoreless effort.

Evergreen’s fighting Irishmen
went out for blood in the Thursday doubleheader, which was transferred here
from Ft. Deposit so that a protested game could be replayed, and they got it in
copious measures. The first game was won easily behind the five-hit hurling of
Skin Hyde, by a score of 16-2, while the second affray was a close and tightly
played affair, resulting in a score of 4-0, Doc Jones hurling.

The Greenville affair Sunday
was nip and tuck with Jones getting the call when Manager Murphy decided the
long boy was ready to go after his great work Tuesday. Drawing Hester, one of
the best in the league, as his opponent, Jones knew he had to work hard if he
won the ball game, and he promptly went to work.

D.L. Long left here
(Castleberry) the first of the week on a fishing trip on the Yellow River in
Florida.

113 YEARS AGO

JUNE 24, 1903

The game of ball between
Brewton and Evergreen played here on Friday was one of considerable local
interest, though there was ragged playing on each side, neither of the teams
having had very much practice. For the first six innings, it looked as if the
game would result in a victory for Evergreen, but some bad playing on the
infield by Evergreen lost the game to Brewton. The game ended in a score of
nine to six in Brewton’s favor. The second game will be played in Brewton on
Friday next.

Robert Powell and wife of
Montgomery, after spending several days fishing here (Garland), have returned
home.

June 28, 1635 - The French colony of Guadeloupe was
established in the Caribbean.

June 28, 1703 – John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist
movement, was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England.

June 28, 1712 – Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born
in Geneva.

June 28, 1773 - Off the coast of South Carolina, British
Commodore Sir Peter Parker, aboard the HMS Bristol opened fire on the Patriot
fortification at Sullivan's Island. The Patriots only suffered minor casualties
while the cost to the British was 261 injured or dead.

June 28, 1775 – Outstanding American Revolutionary soldier
Marinus Willett of New York was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel. He would
go on to become the 48th Mayor of New York City.

June 28, 1776 – The Battle of Sullivan's Island ended with
the first decisive American victory in the American Revolutionary War as
American colonists repulsed a British sea attack on Charleston, S.C. and leading
to the commemoration of Carolina Day.

June 28, 1776 - A draft of the formal Declaration of
Independence, known as the “Lee Resolution,” was presented to the Continental
Congress.

June 28, 1776 – Thomas Hickey, Continental Army private and
bodyguard to General George Washington, was hanged for mutiny and sedition.

June 28, 1778 – The American Continentals engaged the
British in the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse, resulting in a standstill and
British withdrawal under cover of darkness. Mary "Molly Pitcher" Hays
McCauley, wife of an American artilleryman, carried water to the soldiers
during the Battle of Monmouth and, supposedly, took her husband's place at his
gun after he was overcome with heat.

June 28, 1813 – General Flournoy ordered Brigadier General
Ferdinand L. Claiborne, with his 600 Mississippi volunteers, to march from
Baton Rouge to Mount Vernon, in order to be ready there “to repel any attack
that may be made on any part of the frontier of the Mississippi Territory,
either from Indians, Spaniards or English.” Leaving Baton Rouge on June 28, the
brigade reached Mount Vernon on July 30. The defense of Mobile, Ala. was to be
Claiborne’s primary concern.

June 28, 1825 – During his tour of the United States, the
Marquis de Lafayette crossed into Vermont at the Cornish Bridge early in the
morning. He traveled north, passing through Woodstock at 11a.m., taking a
stagecoach through the mountains to Barnard and Royalton. He passed through
Randolph; where he is said to have met a young Justin S. Morrill and eventual
Senator Dudley Chase. He was escorted with Governor Cornelius P. Van Ness and
others through Barre to large festivities in Montpelier that included speeches
by supreme Court Judge Elijah Paine and others. He spent the night in
Montpelier at The Pavilion, an historic and politically important structure.

June 28, 1836 – The last of the Founding Fathers, James
Madison, the fourth President of the United States, died at the age of 85 on
his tobacco plantation in Orange, Va. and was buried in the Madison Family
Cemetery at Montpelier. He was a drafter of the Constitution, recorder of the
Constitutional Convention and author of the "Federalist Papers.”

June 28, 1838 – The coronation of Queen Victoria of the
United Kingdom took place.

June 28, 1857 - Emerson Hough, one
of the most successful writers of adventure novels of the romantic western
genre, was born in Newton, Iowa.

June 28, 1862 - Confederates captured the commercial vessel
St. Nicholas on Chesapeake Bay. The plan was the brainchild of George Hollins
and Richard Thomas Zarvona, who hatched a plan to capture the St. Nicholas and
use it to marshal other Yankee ships into Confederate service.

June 28, 1862 – During the Civil War, Farragut’s fleet successfully ran the
batteries at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in the first attempt to take the city.
This action proved two points: A fleet could pass powerful land batteries
without suffering excessive damage and it was going to take more than naval
power to take Vicksburg.

June 28, 1862 – During the Civil War, fighting continued between Union and Confederate
forces during the Seven Days' campaign.

June 28, 1862 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Blackland,
Miss. and at Sparta, Tenn.

June 28, 1862 – During the Civil War, a two-day Federal operation began in
Johnson County, Missouri.

June 28, 1862 – During the Civil War, Federals evacuated James Island, South
Carolina.

June 28, 1863 - U.S. President Lincoln appointed General
George G. Meade as commander of the Army of the Potomac. Meade, who replaced
General Hooker, was the fifth man to command the Army in less than a year. Meade
received the orders at 7:00 in the morning at Frederick, Md.

June 28, 1863 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at
Russellville, Kentucky; at Donaldsville, Louisiana; near Seneca and another at
Rockville Maryland; at Plymouth and Nichol’s Mills, North Carolina; at Fountain
Dale, Oyster Point, Columbia, and Wrightsville, Pennsylvania; at Rover,
Tennessee; and on the Little River Turnpike, Virginia.

June 28, 1863 – During the Civil War, the siege at Vicksburg, Miss. entered Day
41.

June 28, 1863 – During the Civil War, Robert E Lee learned the Federals were
north of the Potomac. He ordered Longstreet, Hill and Ewell to march toward
Gettysburg and Cashtown. Early entered York, Pennsylvania.

June 28, 1863 – During the Civil War, in Georgia, Joe Johnston’s men
prepared new defensive positions along the Chattahoochee River, to the rear of
the Kennesaw line.

June 28, 1864 – During the Civil War, skirmishes were fought at Tunnel
Hill, Georgia and at Howlett’s Bluff, Virginia.

June 28, 1865 – During the Civil War, the CSS Shenandoah stopped taking
Federal whalers in the Bering Sea.

June 28, 1865 – The Army of the Potomac was disbanded.

June 28, 1874 - The Freedmen's Bank, created to assist former slaves in the
United States, closed. Customers of the bank lost $3 million.

June 28, 1888 – Robert Louis Stevenson set sail for the
South Seas about the schooner yacht Casco.

June 28, 1902 – Elijah Byrd Jenkins, who was aboard the CSS
Selma when it was captured at the Battle of Mobile Bay, filed for his
Confederate pension in Wilcox County. Jenkins was born in Wilcox County on Dec.
13, 1842 to Thomas Jenkins and wife. At the age of 19, he enlisted on Nov. 1,
1862 in Montgomery as a private with Co. K 1st Ala. Artillery. He re-enlisted
on Feb. 11, 1863 at Port Hudson, La. with Co. K, 1st Ala. Artillery before
joining the Confederate Navy and transferring to serve aboard the CSS Selma on
March 5, 1864, served on that ship until it was captured at the Battle of
Mobile Bay. He was then imprisoned at Ship Island, Miss. for the rest of the
war. Elijah Jenkins is buried at New Hope Cemetery at Dottelle.

June 28, 1902 – The U.S. Congress passed the Spooner Act,
authorizing President Theodore Roosevelt to acquire rights from Colombia for
the Panama Canal.

June 28, 1902 – Composer and lyricist Richard Rodgers was born in Queens.
His collaborations with Oscar Hammerstein and Lorenz Hart revolutionized
American musical theater and resulted in the classic musicals Pal Joey (1940),
Oklahoma! (1943), South Pacific (1949), and The
Sound of Music (1959).

June 28, 1904 - John S. McDuffie of River Ridge in Monroe
County, Ala. was shot and killed during an argument with Edward English.
McDuffie was one of the captures of famous train robber, Rube Burrow.

June 28, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported that Miss Callie
Faulk was teaching a “flourishing” school at Franklin, Ala.

June 28, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from
the Activity community, that the smallpox was “raging” near Simpkinsville, and
that it had been reported that Mr. Willie Chatman had lost his wife to the
disease.

June 28, 1906 – The Monroe Journal reported, in news from
the Excel community, that Marvin E. Booker of Orange Hill, Fla. and Miss Corrie
King of Mexia, had been elected to teach the school there that fall.

June 28, 1909 – Eric Ambler, the first author to write
stories about international espionage that were based on real life, was born in
London.

June 28, 1914 – In an event that is widely regarded as
sparking the outbreak of World War I, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the
Austro-Hungarian empire, was shot to death with his wife by Bosnian Serb
Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo, Bosnia.

June 28, 1915 – On this Monday morning, Judge Gamble came to
Evergreen, Ala. and arranged for a special term of the Conecuh County Circuit
Court to try John Salter and Robert Watkins who made a full confession to the
brutal murder of Martha Lassiter, the attempted murder of Wiley House and the
robbery and burning of House’s residence near Burnt Corn on June 23, 2015.

June 28, 1919 – The Treaty of Versailles was signed, ending
the state of war between Germany and the Allies of World War I.

June 28, 1928 – Repton’s baseball team beat Castleberry,
6-2, in Castleberry, Ala. on this Thursday. Warren Kelly, Bradley, Andrews and
B. Kelly pitched for Repton, and Loris Hyde and Voline pitched for Castleberry.
Haskew Page and Holland led Repton at the plate.

June 28, 1928 – Louis Armstrong and his band, the Hot Five,
recorded “West End Blues.”

June 28, 1942
– During World War II, Nazi Germany started its strategic summer offensive
against the Soviet Union, codenamed Case Blue.

June 28, 1945 – The Monroe Journal reported, under the
headline “HORNADY LOSES FINE MILK COW,” that during the previous week, George
Hornady lost a good milk cow under peculiar circumstances. The cow had been
treated by a veterinarian for some time but no sign of improvement was apparent.
Hornady killed the cow and on examination he found a piece of hay wire embedded
in her heart.

June 28, 1945 – The Monroe Journal reported that Pfc. Thomas
D. Frye was at home on furlough after spending 15 months in a German prison. He
enlisted in the Army in 1940. Following his furlough period, he was to go to a
redistribution center for further assignment.

June 28, 1946 – Actress and comedian Gilda Radner was born
in Detroit.

June 28, 1947 - Four Army officers at Maxwell airfield in
Montgomery, Ala. claimed that they saw “an unusual circular object perform
inconceivable midair maneuvers for more than 20 minutes.” That same day, an
Army F-51 Mustang pilot near Lake Meade, Nevada claimed to have seen five
circular objects pass him off his right wing. In Wisconsin on that same day,
two farmers said that they saw 10 “saucer-shaped objects” fly over at high
speed.

June 28, 1958 - A movie version of Alabama author Joe David
Brown's book “Kings Go Forth”was released.

June 28, 1960 – Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John
Elway was born in Port Angeles, Washington. He went on to play for Stanford and
the Denver Broncos. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.

June 28, 1962 – National Baseball Hall of Fame catcher
Mickey Cochrane passed away at the age of 59 in Lake Forest, Ill. During his
career, he played for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Detroit Tigers and
managed the Tigers from 1934 to 1938. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in
1947.

June 28, 1965 - In the first major offensive ordered for U.S. forces, 3,000
troops of the 173rd Airborne Brigade – in conjunction with 800 Australian
soldiers and a Vietnamese airborne unit – assaulted a jungle area known as Viet
Cong Zone D, 20 miles northeast of Saigon.

June 28, 1970 - Author Ace Atkins was born in Troy, Ala.

June 28, 1971
– Austrian SS officer Franz Stangl died of heart failure at the age of 63 in Düsseldorf,
West Germany.

June 28, 1972 - President Nixon announced that no more draftees would be
sent to Vietnam unless they volunteered for such duty. He also announced that a
force of 10,000 troops would be withdrawn by September 1, which would leave a
total of 39,000 in Vietnam.

June 28, 1973 – The Evergreen Rotary Club installed its new
slate of officers during a meeting at noon on this Thursday at the Evergreen
United Methodist Church in Evergreen, Ala. The officers were Treasurer James
Ansley, Secretary David Hyde, Past President Emmett Dale, President Fred
Stevens and Vice President Luther Gowder.

June 28, 1974 – Dr. Hugh Clingman Fountain, 94, passed away
in the Evergreen Nursing Home in Evergreen, Ala. An active Freemason, he
practiced dentistry for over 60 years, including over 50 years in Evergreen
after moving to Evergreen from Burnt Corn.

June 28, 1975 - More than 300 members of Detachment 1, 778th
Maintenance Co. of the Alabama National Guard, including men from Monroeville,
Evergreen and Jackson, were scheduled to leave this Saturday for summer camp at
Camp Shelby, Miss. One officer, two warrant officers and 78 enlisted men from
Monroeville will be in the group, which was to return on July 12.

June 28, 1984 – The Monroe Journal reported that Excel
High’s head football coach Keith Holley had decided that after nine years of
“both the good and bad” of coaching, it was time to make a change. Holley
officially resigned from Excel June 8. Holley came to Excel in April of 1982
from Gallman, Miss., where he served Copiah Academy as head football coach.
Holley succeeded head football coach Lee Holladay, who had held the helm for 14
years.

June 28, 1987
– For the first time in military history, a civilian population was targeted
for chemical attack when Iraqi warplanes bombed the Iranian town of Sardasht.

June 28, 1990 - Alabama author Carter Crocker won a Daytime
Emmy Award for Best Animated Program for his work as story editor for the
television series “The New Adventures of
Winnie the Pooh.”

June 28, 1990 – The Monroe Journal reported that Uriah had
collected its first Babe Ruth Baseball championship since 1975 during the past
week when the team defeated Beatrice, Frisco City and Excel in South Monroe
Babe Ruth Baseball League action in Frisco City. The members of the 1990
championship team were Wontwyn Montgomery, Kevin Colbert, Jackie Ray Brown,
Patrick Redditt, Rusty Lilley, John Murray Ikner, John Jay, Jonathan Conway,
J.D. Maples, Brad McKinley, Shane Qualls, Jesse Wiggins, Ted Bradley, Travis
Flowers, Brian Johnson and Eric Byrd. Coaches included Mike Qualls and Paul
Akins.

June 28, 1990 – The Monroe Journal reported that the
Monroeville City Council during the past week had elected a new mayor pro
tempore. Anne H. Farish, a real estate broker who had served as a council
member since 1984, was elected to replace Jim Davis. Davis was to remain as a
councilman, but he said his schedule as an employee of Alabama River Newsprint
Co. made it difficult to perform the additional duties of mayor pro tem.

June 28, 1996 - Darryl Strawberry hit his 300th home run.

June 28, 1997 – The Evergreen Little League All Stars were
scheduled to open play in the district tournament against the Opp All Stars on
this Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Brewton, Ala. The members of Evergreen’s
team included Jeremy Anderson, Josh Bates, Jonathan Booth, Bryan Boykin, Wiley
Cobb, Christopher Garner, Anthony Maxwell, Thomas Nielsen, Matt Robinson,
Jonathan Rodgers, Eric Taylor, Josh Watson and Joe Windham.

June 28, 2000 - Jeff Cirillo of the Colorado Rockies hit
three home runs and a double against San Francisco.

June 28, 2004 – Sovereign power was handed to the interim
government of Iraq by the Coalition Provisional Authority, ending the U.S.-led
rule of that nation.

Notes: Today in the 180th day of 2016 and the ninth day of Summer. There are 186 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily,
just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line and south of U.S. Highway
84, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834N Lon
87.30131W. Elevation 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No.
AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

Notes: Today in the 179th day of 2016 and the eighth day of Summer. There are 187 days left in the year.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily,
just west of the Monroe-Conecuh County line and south of U.S. Highway
84, near Excel, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.42834N Lon
87.30131W. Elevation 400 feet above sea level. CoCoRaHS Station No.
AL-MN-4, Station Name: Excel 2.5 ESE.

Today (Monday) marks the 154th anniversary of one of the
bloodiest days of the Civil War for the Confederate military unit from Conecuh
County, Alabama.

On June 27, 1862, Confederate forces under the command of
Robert E. Lee clashed with U.S. forces under the command of George B. McClellan
and Fitz John Porter at the Battle of Gaine’s Mill in Hanover County, Va. This
battle resulted in a Confederate victory but was costly for Co. E of the 4th
Alabama Infantry Regiment. Also known as the “Conecuh Guards,” this unit was
organized at Sparta on April 1, 1861.

At the Battle of Gaine’s Mill, a total of 2,377 men on both
sides of the fight were killed and another 9,509 were wounded. Many members of
the Conecuh Guards were among those numbers.

According to B.F. Riley’s 1881 book, “The History of Conecuh
County, Alabama,” seven members of the Conecuh Guards were killed at the Battle
of Gaine’s Mill - Jerre Downs, Caleb Garner, John Garner, John Gaff, Fielding
Lynch, Julius A. Mertins and Thomas Robbins.

Sixteen other members of the Conecuh Guards were wounded at
the Battle of Gaine’s Mill, and some of them would survive the war while others
would not. Among the wounded were Capt. William Lee, 1st Lt. James W. Darby,
2nd Lt. John G. Guice, Sgt. William D. Clarke, Charles Floyd, Francis M. Grice,
William Hodges, John D. Hyde, William Horton, William W. Johnson, John Myers,
William Quinley, Henry C. Stearns, Nick Stallworth, Mitchell B. Salter and
Evans Sheffield.

Lee, who’d been promoted to captain only about two months
before, would go on to be wounded about a year later at the Battle of
Gettysburg on July 2, 1863, and he died from his wounds the following day.

Darby would survive the war and live to old age. In fact, 45
years after the Battle of Gaine’s Mill, on Nov. 22, 1907, Darby and Col.
Pinckney D. Bowles would present the Conecuh Guards flag to the Alabama
Department of Archives and History, where it remains today.

Almost two months later, Guice, who’d been wounded earlier
at the Battle of First Manassas, would be wounded again in two places at the
Battle of Second Manassas, losing one of his legs and receiving an honorable
discharge.

Grice, not to be confused with Guice, lost his left arm at
the Battle of Gaine’s Mill, but he didn’t go home. Instead, he became what’s
known as a “sutler” for the 4th Alabama Infantry. In the old days, a sutler was
a peddler who followed an army around to sell goods and food to soldiers. Grice
survived the war, returned home and eventually moved to Escambia County.

Hodges would be taken prisoner at the Battle of Lookout
Mountain on Nov. 24, 1863, and he died near Washington, Ga. in 1865. Horton was
wounded in the shoulder and leg at Gaine’s Mill, and he moved to Butler County
when he returned home after the war.

Johnson was disabled by the wounds he received at Gaine’s
Mill, and he received an honorable discharge before returning home to Conecuh
County.

Myers may have been the most mysterious of the group.
Wounded at Gaine’s Mill, he was dropped from the unit’s roll in 1863, and
according to Riley’s book, Myers was killed in Butler County after the war.

Quinley would go on to be wounded at Gettysburg on July 3,
1863, and according to Riley, Quinley deserted to U.S. forces in 1865. Stearns
survived the war and returned to Conecuh County when it was all over.

Stallworth may have been the most colorful character in the
unit. Stallworth was born in Evergreen on Aug. 9, 1845 and became the youngest
member of the 4th Alabama Infantry when he enlisted at the age of 15. He would
later be wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor near Mechanicsville, Va. in May
1864.

He returned to Conecuh County and became a farmer, lawyer,
state legislator and solicitor for the 11th Judicial Circuit. Early on the
morning of June 7, 1909, Stallworth passed away at the age of 64 at his home on
Evergreen’s Main Street after a long illness.

Salter, who was 23 years old at the time of Gaine’s Mill,
would be wounded later at the Battle of Chickamauga (some sources say
Gettysburg), and his arm had to be amputated. Salter died on Nov. 8, 1920 at
the ripe, old age of 81, and he’s buried in the Old Evergreen Cemetery.
However, the bone from his arm that was amputated at Chickamauga is currently
on display in the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C.

Sheffield would also be wounded later at the Battle of
Gettysburg, and he returned to Conecuh County after the war. Bizarrely,
according to Riley’s book, Sheffield was later killed by a falling tree.

Floyd apparently survived the war, but Riley’s book
indicates that Floyd moved to Texas after the war. Also, unfortunately, I don’t
have any other information about what happened to Clarke and Hyde.

In the end, if you’ve got any other information about the
men mentioned above, I’d like to hear about it. You can contact me at The
Courant at 578-1492 or e-mail me at courantsports@earthlink.net.
You can reach me by mail at The Evergreen Courant, ATTN: Lee Peacock, P.O. Box
440, Evergreen, AL 36401.